Abstract: A label-printing process for obtaining a desired optical density and a desired color tone with a substantially light-insensitive elongated imaging material comprising: selecting an elongated imaging material, the selected elongated imaging material having a support and a thermosensitive element; supplying image data to a processing unit of a thermal printer including a printhead having energizable heating elements arranged in a column C; converting the image data which are not zero into at least one activation pulse per pixel to be printed; energizing the heating elements printing-line by printing-line adjacent to the selected substantially light-insensitive elongated imaging material thereby producing an image; transporting the imaging material past and adjacent to the printhead in a transport direction with a transport system; forming an image dot with a heat energy of 50 to 200 mJ/mm2 of heating element surface area; wherein the thermosensitive element contains a substantially light-insensitive orga

Abstract: A heat-sensitive recording material suited for use in direct thermal imaging, wherein said recording material comprises in the order given:(i) a transparent polymeric support,(ii) a heat-sensitive imaging layer, and(iii) a protective layer characterized in that said protective layer is an opaque layer containing uniformly distributed in an organic hydrophilic polymeric binder at least one opacifying pigment in the form of particulate material some of which protrudes from the surface of said binder and has anti-stick properties with regard to a thermal print head, and wherein the opacity of layer (iii) corresponds with an absorption and/or scattering of at least 80% of the light of the visible wavelength range (400 to 700 nm), wherein said opaque layer has been coated from an aqueous dispersion of said opacifying pigment particles or precursors thereof.

Abstract: A direct thermal imaging process wherein a non-photosensitive direct thermal recording material is heated dot-wise, and said direct thermal recording material comprises an imaging layer containing uniformly distributed in a film-forming polymeric binder (i) one or more substantially light-insensitive organic silver salts, said silver salt(s) being uniformly in thermal working relationship with (ii) one or more organic reducing agents therefor, however neither including 3,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid as acidic reagent nor di-tert-butyl-p-cresol as a sole reducing agent, characterized in that said imaging layer contains at least one polycarboxylic acid and/or anhydride thereof in a molar percentage of at least 20 with respect to said silver salt(s).